Learning to Lullaby
by Lexie-Rae
Summary: NP pre-pilot. Just something fun, Nathan and Peyton work together on a school project. Probably be a 4 parter, maybe more.
1. Chapter 1

_Okay so this was supposed to another one-shot for "Sometimes" but things got out of hand and this has morphed into it's own little mini-fic! Takes place pre-pilot during Sophomore year. It's just something light-hearted showing Nathan and Peyton struggling through an assignment. This will probably be a three/four parter, maybe more if it continues to grow! Hope you enjoy, reviews are love, Lexie x_

Health class. Nathan thinks it's the biggest waste of time of all the lessons he's supposed to attend, and that's saying something; he thinks that most of them are a perfect misuse of his precious hours. It's a miracle he's turned up at all but Whitey's given him a warning about his poor attendance and so he's forced to suffer the torture.

'Mr Scott, this is a surprise.' Miss Lloyd greets him sarcastically, to which he just scowls in response. He scours the room for a seat and is frustrated to see that the only vacant one is in the front row, punishment for his dawdling.

As he crosses in front of the room he catches the eye of a certain curly blonde, he grins and winks, and she throws him daggers with her wounding emerald stare. He gulps realising that she's _still_ mad about that party when he played spin-the-bottle with a few girls, well, there were about eight if he remembers rightly but honestly the whole thing's a haze. He slips into his seat and stretches, yawning widely, he's knackered from Whitey's early morning drilling and was hoping to catch up on some sleep during this hour but fate and a poor report card have forced him to change his plans.

Slyly he slips a glance at Peyton but her gaze is intensely focussed on the page before her where she's no doubt sketching his head on a stick. He envies the fact that she can get away with wearing headphones thanks to her crazy, wild tresses. He imagines that there's some kind of angry, intense song pumping into her ears right now, silencing whatever droning Nathan's going to have to endure at the hands of Miss Lloyd.

There's an odd look in the teacher's eye, the kind of twinkling that usually means that a pop quiz is about to be sprung on them. Nathan groans at the thought, he's skipped so much that he'll probably fail and that's not exactly an easy task; this class is basically just common sense.

'Class.' Miss Lloyd clears her throat to gain her students' attention, 'Today marks a very special day in all of your lives, none of you realise yet but this could be the day that influences the decisions you make later, the paths you choose to follow and how the rest of your life is shaped.'

Nathan arches his brow and believes the woman's gone a little too far in trying to make Health Class exciting. He thinks maybe she always wanted to be a drama teacher and is still bitter about it, so she's inflicting them with her dramatics.

'Congratulations, ladies and gentlemen,' She says, grinning madly, 'you've just become parents.'

She gives them all a round of applause as though it's some kind of celebration whilst the room gives her a mix of bemused and bored looks.

'Well,' She ceases her clapping and goes to the closet to reveal the reason behind her mad gleeful look; the damn freakiest dolls Nathan's ever seen in his life. There's a lurch in his stomach when he finally realises what's going on; one of those pseudo babies is going to be his pretend kid and he's going to have to play Dad if he wants to continue with basketball.

Of all the weeks for Whitey to finally realise that his star player's skipping, it has to be this one, the week where student hell is on the lesson plan.

'Now then, I'm going to pair you all up and each couple will have a baby to look after for the week, which includes the weekend, and no you can't choose the gender!' She laughs madly as though doll gender is what's on their minds.

Nathan's mind is clogged with how he's going to have a life with a screaming fake kid to look after. He's heard about these things and knows that it's basically a smarmy way for adults to show students that babies are hard work. Nathan doesn't need to be told, he can see that a kid would completely ruin his life right now, he doesn't need a week of poop, feeding and whinging to know that.

He twists in his seat to survey the room, wondering if there's a girl he'd be able to sweet talk into looking after the doll 24-7. It's a long shot but this is a desperate kind of situation, he doesn't want to be dumped with it, not when Friday's game night and the weekend's, well it's the weekend. As he assesses the maternal instincts of his peers his eyes fall on the tilted heads of Brooke and Peyton who are in no way trying to hide the fact that they're whispering furiously to one another. Nathan's ears begin to burn as soon as he spots the little powwow, knowing that he's the topic of their moaning. He shakes the issue away though; he supposed to be searching for a girl that will make the perfect mother hen, neither Brooke nor Peyton making his shortlist.

'Mr Scott.' Miss Lloyd diverts his attention from his search by thrusting one of the demented dolls into his hands. 'It's a boy.'

His eyes widen in shock, besides the crazy stare he's getting from the thing he notices that it's just wearing a diaper and the plastic limbs are flayed out resembling a starfish. He just stares, wondering what he should do next; does he have to hold it all the time? And more to the point are there any instructions.

'Here's your care pack.' Miss Lloyd says, dumping a huge basket on his desk, 'Now let's find you a wife.'

She's enjoying this little simulation a little too much, Nathan thinks, it's a bit creepy in his opinion. Speaking of creepy, the kid's looking at him again with it's mad glare, that alone is enough to make Nathan practise safe sex; he never wants a kid if it's just going to leer at him like that all the time.

'Ah yes.' Miss Lloyd has that look in her eye again, causing his stomach to twist, 'I couldn't really pair you with anyone else now could I? Peyton, if you'd care to be Mrs Scott for the week.'

He watches his girlfriend's reaction as the teacher marries them for the next seven days, all Nathan can think is it's about the first time he's ever wished that Peyton had the power to kill with her glare.

The blonde grabs her stuff and slowly strolls to Nathan's desk, dumping her things with a thud and a fair amount of attitude.

'Congrats, we have a psycho child.' He tells her, offering the doll to her tightly folded arms, 'Look at it's eyes.'

'He looks like his Dad, I guess.' She returns, not bothering to move and take the baby from him.

Miss Lloyd claps her hands to silence the class of new parents, 'Now I haven't activated your simulator children yet, first I thought we'd have a little fun! So between you I'd like you to name your little one and work out a schedule.'

'Gee, she knows how to have a good time.' Nathan mutters sourly.

Peyton rolls her eyes, 'Look, I don't want to do this any more than you do, possibly less but whatever, we're stuck with it. What do you want to call it?'

He shrugs, really not caring less.

'This sucks, I get it.' She tells him, 'I have to play house with a boy who likes having his tongue in the mouth of other girls. We both have to do the assignment though.'

He looks into her flaming eyes and guilt floods him, 'I'm sorry, I was drunk, okay? It was stupid. I'm stupid. Isn't that what you want me to say? I'm a big stupid idiot.'

Her pout lessens a little and he can feel her front beginning to melt somewhat. He reaches out and brushes a stray curl out of her eye line, tracing his fingertip from her hairline, down her cheeks and toward her lips.

'We're trying to _stop_ teen pregnancy not instigate it.' Miss Lloyd cries as she passes, 'What have you too decided to name your son?'

Nathan hates how she's trying to make this game of play pretend into real life, that and her ridiculous smirk. He glances to Peyton and can tell that she's fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

He forces a smile to his lips, 'Lloyd, we've chosen to call it Lloyd.'

That wipes her grin away, Nathan thinks to himself triumphantly.

'Call _him_ Lloyd.' She corrects once she's composed herself.

As she hurries away to harass someone else, Peyton delivers a whack to Nathan's arm, 'That was cruel.'

'Funny, Peyton, it was funny.' He adjusts her words, 'Come on, this kid looks crazy and she's completely round the twist. She probably loves that she's a namesake, I'll bet she takes one of these home with her at the weekend and pretends it's hers.'

'Nathan!' Peyton cries in a hushed, outraged tone.

'Bet you any money.' He pushes.

'I'm just going to ignore you now.' She informs him, 'So are we going to sort out a schedule like we're divorced parents sharing custody or do you want to do this together?'

He takes a moment to weigh up each option, overlooking the fact that she's starting to sound like the teacher with her weird references to divorce and child access arrangements. He had been hoping that whatever girl he was paired with would do most of the work but seeing as he ended up with Peyton he knows that it's a shattered dream, she'll make him do his share. On the one hand, being together would be better because he can sneakily make her deal with all the baby stuff but they might just drive each other mad in the process. On the flip side he really doesn't want to have to deal with the spooky looking thing on his own.

'Together.' He says finally, hoping it's not going to be too painful a week.

She nods and begins rooting through the basket in search of something that will make the baby look a little more decent than he does right now. Nathan ponders whether it would be seen as child abuse to cover the thing's eyes.

'So I guess we'll be staying at yours then?' Peyton assumes as she pulls the doll's limbs into a onesie with an astonishing tenderness.

'Why?' Nathan asks, his forehead creasing in thought. If they were going to commit to this, and it looked as though Peyton was going to force the to do so, he would prefer to stay at her's for the duration.

'Because you have a crazy training schedule that you'll use as an excuse to disappear if we live at mine, I won't see you all week and I'll end up doing all of the work. I know what you're like, you'll conveniently have a work-out at six in the morning and say you can't stay round and I'll have to get up all night to the screaming.' She explains, to a surprised and impressed Nathan for that was exactly what he was planning on doing.

With the baby dressed, Peyton passes the doll to Nathan who handles it like a live grenade, holding it at arm's length. She tuts but doesn't bother to correct him, instead she inspects all the items in the basket that are their only aids for the following seven days.

'I can't wait to see you wear this.' She cackles, pulling out something that resembles a straight jacket.

'And that is?' He asks, unsure that he wants to hear her answer.

She smiles, 'Like a hands free baby carrier.'

His face contorts into a look of disgust as though he can't imagine anything worse than having the scary doll strapped to him for any length of time.

Miss Lloyd's doing her clapping thing again and Nathan can barely look at her in fear of what horror she's about to unleash on them. As he glances up he sees her sickly sweet smile which he's tired of seeing by now.

'I'm about to activate the babies now.' She informs them, Nathan clenches his fists when she refers once again to the dolls as real life children.

He looks at the doll in his arms and waits as though it really is a grenade and about to explode at any moment, his anticipation making him the only student in the room who's not shocked when his baby bursts into an outburst of deafening wails.

He's not surprised but he's still clueless, having no idea how to soothe a baby. Peyton sighs at his ignorance and pulls the doll out of his hands and bounces it lightly in her arms. Almost instantly the howls turn to low whimpers and snivels, he has no idea how she knew to do that but he's sure that he's not going to let her leave him alone with the doll all week.

'So have we got this thing all the time?' He asks, 'Like at lunch and in class and stuff?'

Her eyes snap to his and he can see in her olive almonds teasing him, 'It's not a thing, it's a him. And unless you've got any childcare suggestions then I guess we're stuck with him.'

'Well I was going to go shoot some hoops at lunch.' As soon as he says it he regrets it. Her glare is boring into him and she seems to be ignoring the cries of Lloyd which are intensifying rapidly. 'Okay, I'll stay with you, just shut the baby up.'

She purses her lips but follows his instructions as the bawling is aggravating her no end. Settling the baby in her arms she rocks him gently and watches as his eyelids flutter and close.

'Not as creepy for you now, you take him.' She says, pressing the doll into his arms.

Nathan, having no choice, takes it from her and blushes from head to toe at having to be witnessed with a doll nestled close to him.

'Oh that's one for the album.' Peyton grins pulling out her cell, 'Say cheese, Daddy.'

He scowls menacingly, 'If you call me Daddy again, I swear,'

'You swear what? You need me to pass this class.' She's enjoying this and not bothering to hide the fact. Although she too thinks the idea of a week with a pretend baby is dumb she'll go along with it just to infuriate him. He's going to have to sit back and take it because as much as he hates to admit it he really does need her help, desperately.

'Can we make this as painless as possible?' He pleads, 'I'll help out, just don't start making out like this is real, that thing's freaking me out enough already.'

'That thing is our son.' She shoots back, obviously having decided to pay no attention to his request.

Nathan groans into his hands, only seven more days of this nightmare he thinks glumly. Through the gap in his fingertips he can see Peyton loading a bag full of baby junk and heaving what he's sure is some kind of car seat onto the desk. He wishes he hadn't laughed at Miss Lloyd saying that this day was going to change his life because she was right, he's just been given his idea of hell in a basket; for the next week his life is officially over.

'Lloyd.' She's turning the name over with her tongue, 'Sorry that you're stuck with us, I hope you like basketball and good music.'

Nathan snorts at that, 'Babe, no one likes your loser rock.'

'As you can see, your Dad's a charmer.' She continues, hoping that it will annoy the crap out of Nathan, which it does. 'Yes, isn't he charming? He even likes charming other girls, nice, huh?'

'Peyton,' He sighs largely, 'I'm sorry, really, really sorry. What can I do to make it up to you? Whatever you want, I'll do it, I, I don't want to lose you.'

Her eyebrows arch at his admission, 'Because you'll fail Health Class without me?'

'No!' He says it with such intensity that he surprises himself, 'It's you I want to be with, you just get me, you know? Like with my Dad and all, and you're funny and independent and smart and well, freaking hot.'

She narrows her eyes, 'I'm just hot?'

'Gorgeous, the prettiest girl in the school, Peyton, I fancy the pants off you.' He feels his cheeks reach a deeper shade of crimson as he grovels, begging her to end the torment sometime soon.

'Okay.' She concedes, leaning in for a quick kiss, 'You've got this week to prove your worth.'

He goes to argue then realises the stupidity of that idea, instead he's just going to have to do as she's asked and live a week in the surreal world that Health class has so kindly thrown him into.

He looks to the "baby" in his arms and then back to the girl he really doesn't want to lose, 'Start looking cute, Lloyd, I might need some help from you.'

She shakes her head in laughter and Nathan feels a little bit of his anxiety about the following week slip away.

* * *

It's lunchtime, Nathan's gazing longingly at the court and Peyton's trying to feed a grizzling baby Lloyd as everyone else around them sees to be having fun messing around on the quad.

'The kid doesn't want lunch.' Peyton says in a worn out tone, 'You have a try, I want a chance to actually eat my food.'

Reluctantly he takes Lloyd and the bottle from her and sits in full view of everyone as he, Nathan Scott, star player of the Ravens feeds milk to the doll in his arms. His eyes widen as the crying ceases and finally the baby is happy and eating. He's not even ashamed when he lifts his head, and reveals his proud grin to an amused Peyton.

'You're a natural.' She says, her eyes glimmering.

He shakes his head, 'This is a fluke.'

The couple share a few blissful minutes of silence in the warm sun, enjoying a break from the relentless cries that have been plaguing them for the past few hours. Their pleasure doesn't last for long though as they're invaded by their best friends who have a screaming infant in tow.

'This is insane!' Brooke whines loudly as she plops down opposite Peyton, dropping the carrier onto the floor beside her, an ear piercing screech wailing from the car seat.

Nathan smirks feeling smug that their kids behaving, 'Brooke, your little monster's going to wake Lloyd up if you don't shut it up.'

'Lloyd?' Brooke raises her eyebrows, 'We got a girl.'

Peyton and Nathan look to the other half of the "we" and instantly feel for Brooke.

'I'm going to kill someone before this is done.' Brooke says shaking her head, 'And it's going to be Tim.'

'What's the matter, Wifey?' Tim asks, leaning towards her as though he's going to peck her on the cheek but is slapped away before he gets close.

She rests her forehead on the table and clenches her fists, 'Tim.' She growls, 'Sort. Out. The. Baby.'

He shrugs and lifts the doll from the carrier in a motion that would make any parent's heart stop.

'Do I want to look?' Brooke asks, apprehensive.

'Best not.' Peyton advises, popping a french fry into her mouth to hide her laughter.

Tim moves away from the group, Nathan and Peyton can only assume that he's about to try and teach the kid basketball or something equally insane.

'So I'm getting an F for this assignment.' Brooke says, apparently beyond caring. She cautiously raises her head as though her eyes will meet the sight of her baby on fire, 'How's it going for you guys?'

'Not too bad.' Peyton says, offering her tray to Brooke who looks plain exhausted, 'We're not having sex for a long time though.'

Brooke snorts but Nathan's face is agape.

'Babe, come on.' He says, astonished.

'I don't want a Lloyd any time soon and no offence Brooke but I really don't want whatever it is that you have.' Peyton shivers at the thought.

'Evangeline, Evie for short.' Brooke offers, 'Or Satan if you prefer.'

Peyton smiles, 'Definitely no Satans.'

'Peyt, I don't want a kid either, there's a reason birth control's there you know.' He reminds her, not ready for sex to be withheld in his week of hell.

'Double Dutch.' She reasons and he sighs in relief.

Brooke blows her bangs in boredom, 'I did not come over here to listen to you two talk bedroom antics, can someone start cheering me up already?'

Peyton rolls her eyes but turns to her best friend, 'Okay well Nate's got practise after school, as has Tim, maybe we could go to the mall?'

'Do I have to bring Evie?' Brooke asks, turning her nose up at the thought.

'How are you going to dress like a yummy mommy without the most important accessory?' Peyton questions, knowing exactly how Brooke's mind works.

The brunette bites down on her lip and thinks it over, 'It is very _In_ right now.'

'All the cool kids are doing it.' Peyton points out, sharing a smirk with Nathan as she says it.

'You're right.' Brooke agrees, 'I'm going to need a whole new wardrobe for this Mom thing. Plus Evie totally needs some pretty dresses, no wonder the kid's miserable; those rags Miss Lloyd gave us are disgusting.'

Peyton shakes her head at her friend, only Brooke would want to spend money on a school project for the sake of looking stylish doing it. 'I'll meet you after practise then, Nate? We can go grab my stuff then go to yours.'

'Sounds good.' He tells her, moving Lloyd from his arms to the nearby car seat.

'Why can't I have that?' Brooke sighs, 'Instead I get Dim and a foghorn for a kid.'

Nathan and Peyton just smile.

* * *

Nathan emerges from the locker room after a particularly good practise to find his new "family" waiting for him. Peyton's face is thunderous and he gets the feeling that the trip to the mall was not an enjoyable one.

'Have a good night.' Whitey chortles as he passes, an extra spring in his step.

Nathan sneers but doesn't retaliate, he's in enough trouble with the coach as it is.

'Try to drown yourself in the shower?' Peyton snaps, clearly unimpressed by how long it's taken him to change.

He's beginning to see that it might have been an idea to take even longer considering how long the night before him has suddenly become. He knows he should ask her how the mall was, or offer to take the baby from her but he can't bring himself to. Instead he puts his arms around her shoulders and gloomily walks to the lot.

'This kid is a nightmare.' She tells him, 'Everyone was just staring and I couldn't shut the damn thing up.'

'That thing is our son.' He teases using the same words she fed to him earlier that day.

In response he receives daggers, which if he's honest he fully expected.

'Maybe my Mom will take him when we get home.' Nathan suggests optimistically.

'If she's insane.' Peyton mutters, not holding out any hope.

Nathan sighs, wishing she was in the same mood as when he'd left her but it's all part of the Peyton Sawyer charm to swing though the scales of emotion at a hundred miles an hour, he should be used to it by now.

He takes the car seat from her and straps the grumbling child into the backseat with more difficulty than he ever imagined to be possible; clips and straps running across and behind in a tangle that frazzles Nathan's mind. Peyton turns to look on in amusement as he struggles.

'Anyone would think that you care about this doll getting injured if we crash.' She mocks him.

He feels himself pouting a little, 'Do you want it to fall into the foot well when I turn a corner sharply? I don't think Miss Lloyd would like to see her namesake decapitated.'

'How sharp is this corner?' Peyton asks, her anger melting upon seeing him being over cautious with their doll.

He ignores her taunts and turns to Lloyd, who's still moaning, 'Ready to meet Nanny Crazy and Grandpa Dread? Good, me neither.'

The drive is a tense one due to the constant cries from the backseat and Nathan banning Peyton from putting any of her music on the "soothe" the kid. By the time they pull up at the Scott household all three of them are exhausted.

Peyton grabs the baby and Nate brings everything else which is a lot of stuff when there's an infant and a week's worth of girl's things to move in.

'Nathan, you didn't tell me I was about to be the world's youngest Grandmother.' Deb smirks as they pad into the kitchen, she's hugging her coffee cup and watching in a smug kind of pride as she watches her son battle with all the things she had to do for real when she was just out of High School.

'Not funny, Mom.' He says, 'He hasn't stopped crying in ages.'

'You'll get it.' She tells both teens who are looking to her desperately, 'I'll start fixing your dinner.'

They had been hoping that she'd offer to take the baby from them for a while, six days maybe, but it seemed that Deb wasn't going to be much of a help when it came to Lloyd.

'I'll go get settled in.' Peyton sighs, knowing that as tired as she is it's only going to get worse.

'I've still got Nathan's old crib if you'd like it.' Deb offers kindly but Peyton says they'll make do with the basket they've been provided with. She has a feeling that waking up in the night to see a crib across the room would be a bridge too far.

She heads upstairs to throw some of clothes into a couple of drawers she knows that Nathan doesn't use, fill his bathroom with all her toiletries and basically invade his space. She leaves the car seat downstairs along with Lloyd who's strapped into it wailing. While Nathan's distracted with the baby she takes the opportunity to replace his pitiful CD collection with some of her favourites that she grabbed in her hasty exit, sure that he'll moan about it when he realises.

As she dancing about to the sounds of Radiohead, she hears the front door slam; her alert that Dan's home. She wonders for a minute what Dan will make of the artificial grandchild but doesn't have to wait long for her answer. There's a kind of roar followed by a shout from the lower floor; apparently Dan is unimpressed by the disruption to his quiet sanctuary. For some reason this pleases Peyton somewhat. She wisely hides out in Nathan's room until she's called for dinner, taking as long as possible to unpack, hoping that Dan will have calmed down by the time she sees him.

'Miss Sawyer.' Dan greets her frostily, 'Any more invasions besides the cheerleader and the howling Tiny Tears?'

'Dan!' Deb scolds, 'It's for school.'

'What teacher has told them to shack up together for a week?' Dan asks, tearing into his bread roll, 'Some of us have jobs and need our sleep, Nathan has to get a good eight hours to be fresh for training, it's irresponsible.'

'It's one week, Dan, better that than eighteen years.' Deb says evenly trying to show him the good it could do their sometimes careless son.

Dan grunts in reply and moves his attention to his steak.

Peyton's eyes too are trained to her plate, not exactly feeling welcome, she's not surprised as such but wishes that Dan would learn a little table etiquette and not talk about her as though she's not there. She feels a socked foot brush her calf and instantly feels better, glad that Nathan is at least offering her a silent show of support.

She begins to enjoy the meal and then a desperate wail breaks through the silence and the happy moment is ruined. Dan's cutlery clatters down to his plate and instantly Nathan and Peyton are on their feet, hoping not to enrage Dan any further. Deb just smiles at what she perceives to be enthusiasm to their schoolwork.

Peyton scoops the doll up into her arms and together she and Nathan rush away to his bedroom where she's dumped all the baby things. She seeks out a bottle, whilst Nathan crashes down onto his bed, and tucks into the roll he snatched on their way out of the dining room.

'I've had him all afternoon, isn't it your turn?' Peyton asks, throwing a scattering of clothes and diapers across his floor in her hurriedness.

'I fed him earlier.' He moans as though he's done his shift.

She sighs at his ignorance and settles beside him on the bed, Lloyd in her arms hushed with the offering of dinner.

'How was the mall?' Nathan asks, finally ready to hear what had made her so mad.

She gazes into his deep baby blues, 'Hideous. Brooke was like a woman possessed and spent all of her time chasing about crazily, leaving me with sulky and sulkier and a whole bunch of staring. Brooke spent a heap of money though so I think she's a bit happier now so it wasn't a complete waste of dignity.'

'What time does this kid go to sleep then?' Nathan asks, slipping his hand to the back of her neck and beneath the material of her shirt.

'He's not a robot.' Peyton reminds him, 'He doesn't have a bedtime and he's not going to sleep through the night.'

'I can barely wait.' He jests, cursing Miss Lloyd for the umpteenth time that day, 'Doesn't this thing have some batteries we can remove?'

She arches her brow, 'Don't you think Brooke's already tried that? There's no stopping it.'

'Seven days.' Nathan mumbles, 'I don't know if I can make that.'

'You've got a lot riding on this.' Peyton jogs his memory, 'If you can't handle this week with a doll you could get kicked from the team, no more games, no more championships, no more Duke.'

'Pass me the damn kid.' He growls in response to which she smiles. 'How hard can it be to pass health class?'

'I guess we're about to find out.' Her eyes glitter with the anticipation of what lies ahead for them in the next week.

* * *

_So I really shouldn't be starting another story but this is just going to be a short one...oh well!  
Anyway let me know what you think, guys, I love to hear from you!  
Lexie :)_


	2. Chapter 2

_Hi there! Thank you all so much for the amazing response to chapter 1, there's a lot of love for the NP, I see :) I'm sorry that it's taken me this long to update, but it wouldn't be me if I wasn't apologising for some procrastination! _

_So I've never actually had to partake in one of these assignments as you may be able to tell and so I'm not entirely sure how these simulators work but for the sake of this story, I'm gonna go ahead and make out that they need binkys._

_Enjoy, Lexie :)_

Nathan jolts awake rapidly, throwing his arm out in search of his alarm clock as he does every morning. The noise is going right through him and he feels so deathly tired that he can't bring himself to open his eyes. It's only after a few seconds of scrambling his hand over the bed and a few choice words from his girlfriend that Nathan's senses return to him.

He recognises the sound not to be his alarm clock but the screaming of his simulated son; he opens his eyes to his pitch black room and feels the familiar smoothness of Peyton's skin at his touch.

She groans and presses her hand against his chest, pushing with a limited amount of strength, 'Mmppff.'

She's never been good with early mornings, let alone the middle of the night, it would take him more effort to wake her than to see to the interruption himself. He sighs and throws the sheets from over him, probably exposing Peyton to the cool night air too but his main focus isn't on her body temperature, only his quest to quit the doll's wailing.

Dan offers a less than helpful few bangs to the wall, his own way of instructing Nathan to shut the thing up, as if he's not going to get straight onto it.

In the darkened room with the moon acting as the only source of light, Nathan thinks the doll looks even freakier, which by his own admission is an impressive feat. Everything Nathan hates about the kid is intensified at night; the bawling seems to have reached new decibels; all the essentials are harder to locate; and the eyes are comparable to a Chuckie look-alike. Add to that Nathan being absolutely shattered and the whole thing's become a real life nightmare.

He sits by the window as he feeds the kid. He's sure that if it were a real baby it would be obese by this point, the amount he and Peyton have been feeding it, but it's the only thing that seems to appease the doll. He can feel his eyelids drooping as he waits for the fake doll to drink it's pretend milk, thinking that he's never done anything so stupid in all his life and he's done a lot of dumb things in his time.

He looks on enviously as Peyton sleeps, in the couple of minutes that he's been up she's managed to curl herself up in his quilt and move to the centre of the bed; typical.

He wonders vaguely whether Miss Lloyd will let them off the rest of the project if he goes to her tomorrow and explains just how much he doesn't want to become a teen Dad, in fact he's rapidly going off the idea of ever being a father. It all seems a bit like hard work and so far he's seen no rewards. Surely that was Miss Lloyd's objective and she's definitely reached it with Nathan. Success in Health Class, even he didn't see that one coming.

As Lloyd slowly drifts off once again, content with having disturbed his Dad for long enough, Nathan finds himself wide awake.

* * *

'Nate! Nathan! Get up!'

He almost laughs at the fact that she's the one that's waking him up considering how dead to the world she's been all night when _their_ kid's been screaming it's head off.

He awakes to find that he slept on the chair and has a pain in his neck comparable to whiplash from merely sleeping awkwardly.

'We're going to be late for school.' She informs him, rushing about like there's a fire.

Nathan rubs a hand over his features and yawns, 'What day is it?'

'Thursday.' She supplies, strapping the cause of his fatigue into the car seat.

'So we're clear,' Nathan begins as he gets to his feet, 'that plastic piece of torture is all yours today and tonight for that matter.'

Peyton pauses in her flurry to grasp his cheeks with one hand, 'Is someone grumpy because they didn't get enough sleep?'

'Hell yeah, I am, are you deaf or something? That thing was hollering half the night and I had to see to it every time.'

'Alright calm down, I'll get up with him tonight, okay?' She shrugs.

'Good.' He nods, 'Tomorrow's game night, I need to be energised, I feel like crap right now, I can't play like this tomorrow.'

She sighs at his grumbles, 'Got it, now move your ass.'

He blindly pulls some clothes from his wardrobe and stumbles to the shower that he knows he doesn't have time for. As soon as he steps into the warm mist she's banging on the door yelling at him to hurry up. In an act of complete stubbornness he chooses to ignore her in the same way that she ignored the baby all night and damn he feels good doing it.

When he finally emerges she's livid, the kind of mad that only Peyton can get. But he notices her eyes lingering a little too long on the places where his top's clinging to his damp skin and can tell that she's turned on even though she'll never admit it.

'See something you like?' He grins.

'We really haven't got time for your big head to inflate any further.' She says, turning away from him and busying herself with her school books.

He slips his hands around her waist and she squeals in surprise, 'Admit it, you were totally checking me out.'

'Was not.' She lies, then turns to face him and can't hide the fact that her eyes snap quickly across his chest as she does so, 'Okay, maybe a little.'

'I thought you wanted to go to school?' He asks, kinking his brow.

She bats him lightly, 'Come on then let's go already!'

He can't say that he's not disappointed, he was hoping that she'd suggest that they spend the day at home or more specifically in the bedroom. Instead she leads him out to the car and on to school where his day begins with English. The only good thing being that Peyton's taken the baby to Spanish with her.

'Hey, Daddy Scott.' Nathan's greeted when he enters the classroom.

When Peyton had called him Daddy he'd threatened her but it was kind of sexy in a way that he couldn't explain. When the same word came from Tim's mouth it just plain disturbed him.

'How's it going with the kid?' Tim enquires, 'I stayed at Brooke's last night.'

Nathan's already heard Brooke's version of events second hand from Peyton and can say with certainty that Tim didn't spend the night at Brooke's, unless camping out on her lawn counts as stopping over of course.

'I think she likes me!' Tim says in his usual oblivious way.

Nathan says nothing in response but this only seems to egg him on, leading him to launch into a frankly alarming story of Tim's attempts to break into Brooke's house. Still Nathan says nothing but makes a mental note to let Brooke know that she has a stalker.

* * *

'Psst, what's a _"paz"_?' Brooke whispers as she leans across to Peyton's desk.

'Binky!' Peyton mumbles, not looking at her best friend, instead staring at the empty looking bag of all things baby.

Brooke rereads the text she's translating and frowns, 'I don't think it's binky, P, _"The woman wanted a binky"_ it doesn't really fit.'

The blonde threw her friend a perplexed look, 'No, I mean I forgot the binky, you know for the baby.'

'Oh! Well that makes more sense but I've just written binky down as my answer now.' Brooke pouts.

'It's peace, "_the woman wanted peace"_.' Peyton tells her confused friend, 'Do you have spare one by any chance?'

Brooke shakes her head as she crosses a line through binky.

'Dammit!' Peyton mumbles, 'If I don't find one this kid will scream the school down when it's activated at break.'

The brunette throws a sympathetic glance to her friend before shrugging and returning to her Spanish.

Peyton looks over to the car seat where her now peaceful baby is lying, thanks to the fact that during lesson time all the dolls are switched onto sleep mode. She sighs and looks to see who else has their kids with them in a hope to scrounge a binky. She frowns and whips her head round to Brooke.

'Brooke, where's Evie?' Peyton asks when she realises the kid's missing.

'With Tim, I figure if we're going to fail anyway he might as well do all the work towards the F.' She explains, unconcerned by the fail grade that's rapidly heading her way.

Peyton looks to her, slightly alarmed, 'B, he doesn't have the baby, I saw him practically chasing Nate to English and he definitely didn't have a carrier with him.'

In response Brooke sets her jaw and reaches for her cell, 'If he's lost that baby he's going to have to pay me back for the designer dress she's wearing!'

The blonde rolls her eyes once again at the way Brooke Davis' mind works and seeks out her own cell to inform Nathan that he'll hear her before he sees her at break thanks to the absent binky.

Beside her Brooke's grinding her teeth and Peyton has a feeling that Tim is the reason for it. 'I'm going to kill him, like actually kill him.'

'Where's the kid?' Peyton asks lightly.

'He doesn't know.' Brooke says in a pained tone, 'She had the cutest violet shoes on, oh and the sweetest little bracelet and -'

'Brooke!' Peyton calls to hush her garbling friend, 'We'll find her - and the clothes - Tim really can't have gone too far with her.'

Something resembling a sob escapes from behind Brooke's hands which are covering her face, 'It's Dim, Peyton, the kid's probably on a train to Canada by now.'

'I think it's probably in a fast food joint or in his car.' Peyton reasons, 'We'll go look at break.'

'Okay.' Brooke nods, 'Then can I throttle Tim?'

Peyton nods, 'Definitely.'

* * *

'The Dior floral.' Brooke almost breaks down, realising that her absent baby is wearing the most expensive dress she bought the kid.

Peyton offers a pat on the shoulder and Nathan gives her a less than impressed look. They're parked up by the river where Tim brought Evie that morning to see the ducks. He's currently at the water side yelling her name as though she's capable of a reply.

They've been searching for the best part of an hour, meaning that by this point they're all skipping school, and all for some Dior. The only good thing to come out of the little jaunt is getting Lloyd's binky and silencing his outrageously loud cries.

Tim returns to the group with his lop-sided grin and carefree attitude, 'No sign.'

'So you've lost our baby!' Brooke accuses, throwing her arms up, 'I should have realised this was a possibility.'

'Babe, relax, there are loads more places she could be.' Tim says, jumping into the front seat of Nathan's car.

Brooke narrows her eyes, 'But I saw you with her at seven, we've already been to your house, the beach, the burger place and the swings, where else could you have possibly taken her before school?'

'We stopped by the arcade and got some donuts from the drive thru.' He shrugs as though it's all part of a normal routine.

'How can you lose a doll at a drive thru?' Peyton questions, 'Surely she would have stayed strapped into her car seat?'

'I let the guys look at her; none of them have seen one before.' Tim tells his friends.

Brooke, Peyton and Nathan share a look before jumping in the car, knowing that the doll's most likely at the donut place.

'Who wants to play I-spy?' Tim asks jovially as they pull away, in response Brooke leans forward and whacks him on the head. 'Ow! Brooke!'

'Oh, man up! You deserved it anyway, what kind of brainless, idiotic moron loses a baby? A baby that's wearing Dior!' Brooke rages, beginning a tirade of slaps on the clueless boy.

'Day Two.' Peyton says under her breath. Whatever joke Miss Lloyd was playing by pairing Brooke and Tim together it's not funny anymore. Being around them is more tiring than looking after Lloyd, and that's saying something.

She glances into the rear-view mirror to watch Nathan's eyes as he drives; eyes that she can always lose herself in. His cool blue orbs are captivating as ever but there are also dark circles that weren't there before and his lids look heavy. Guilt washes over her as she realises that it's down to her that he's suffering today, she vows that tonight she's get up with the baby - all night.

'Okay, make this quick.' Nathan orders as he pulls into the lot of the donut place, 'And grab a couple of coffees for us.'

Brooke and Tim nod and dash towards the building, still swatting at one another as they do so. Peyton smiles and wraps her arms around her boyfriend's shoulders, both for getting her a coffee and in apology for last night.

'Think they're going to find the kid?' Peyton asks.

She feels him roll his shoulders, 'I'm past caring, I just want to go home.'

'I'm sorry you had a bad night, I promise I'll get up with him tonight.' She commits to which he snorts.

'I'll believe it when I see it.' He laughs, 'It's like someone came and shot you with a tranquiliser dart, add to that I'm scared to wake you up.'

'You're scared of me?' Peyton questions, about to burst into a fit of laughter.

'Yes! You are plain frightening in the morning!' He tells her, 'If you don't get your hours you are a complete grouch. I tried waking you up last night but you were dead to the world.'

Peyton folds her arms across her chest, 'I'll prove you wrong, I'll be the perfect mother tonight.'

Nathan chuckles, 'Yeah and Tim will stop dropping his baby.'

She arches her brow, 'Well if they can't find her he'll definitely stop dropping her.'

He directs his gaze to the doors of the donut place to see Brooke and Tim emerging, Tim with the baby held above his head like a trophy.

'Whatever.' Peyton returns lamely.

* * *

After the manhunt for Evie ended happily, Nathan and Peyton returned home, not bothering with the last couple of hours of school that they could have made it back for.

'What do you want to do?' Peyton asks, setting Lloyd down on the kitchen counter.

Nathan takes a seat and rubs his eyes with his palms, 'Sleep.'

'You're kidding right?' She questions, hands on hips.

'Really not kidding, I'm knackered.' He says blearily to reinforce his point.

She slinks over to him, and settles her hands on his thighs, 'You know that we've got an hour until the baby's activated again, a whole hour that we really shouldn't waste.'

'Too right, I say we nap.' He proposes.

Her eyes narrow and she waits for his burst of laughter but it never comes, 'Oh my God, you're serious?'

'Damn right! I was up half the night! The baby's actually asleep, we should sleep too, you'll thank me tomorrow.'

'It's lunchtime.' She returns bluntly, 'How many times have you rolled in at four in the morning and got up for school hungover? You manage that just fine.'

'It's different.' He pouts, 'Peyton, I'm begging you, just an hour and I'll be fine.'

She shakes her at what she's hearing, 'I don't know you right now.'

'I'm tired.'

'And I'm horny.' She smiles seductively, running her fingers towards his fly.

He covers her hand with his own, 'Peyton, I really can't believe I'm saying this but I don't want to have sex right now.'

She's dumbfounded, mouth hung open and her actions frozen.

'An hour and I'm yours.' He promises. He stands and delivers a kiss to her forehead before lowering his head and moves to the staircase.

'This is all your fault.' Peyton says to the doll, disgruntled, before following Nathan upstairs.

She finds him spread eagle, face down on the bed, snoring.

Sighing she moves to his CD player and finds a mellow album to serve as some company and then takes her place on the bed beside him. There's not much room due to the fact that he's stretched out like a starfish but there's a slither of space on the edge, just room enough for her to lie straight as a pin and watch him as he dreams.

When he stirs a little over an hour later, the first thing he sees is a pair of luminous green eyes.

'Hey, Sleeping Beauty.' She smirks.

'Is the kid up?' He asks, a fearful tone to his voice.

'Not yet.' She informs him, twisting to fit into the curve of his chest, 'I give it five minutes.'

He rests his chin on her curls and closes his eyes, 'I give it less.'

They lie curled in each other's embrace, enjoying the moment while it lasts for they know that it will be broken apart by wailing soon enough.

When the torrent of screaming begins, there's a certain calm about them, now that they're a little more used to going through the motions of parenting.

She shakes her head but smiles, stretching and rising to her feet, 'I'll get him and make us some lunch.'

He looks unsure, 'What are you making?'

'Does it matter? You eat anything, you're like a trash can.' She swivels round, hands on hips.

'Peyton.' He stares her straight in the eye, 'You're a terrible cook.'

'Do you want me to make you food? Only the insults aren't exactly inspiring me.' She tells him.

Nathan weighs up the risk involved in insulting her further and decides that he can't face her wrath, not with the lack of energy he's running on, 'I'm sure it'll be great, whatever you come up with.'

She hears the slight edge of sarcasm but chooses to let her cooking do the talking, how hard can it be to make a grilled sandwich anyway?

Twenty minutes later Peyton's eating her words and neither of them are brave enough to eat her attempt at lunch.

'Don't say a word.' She warns fiercely, scraping the charred mess into the trash.

He smirks and that's enough for her to begin raging at hiM; she's about two feet in front of him, blaming him and the baby for the culinary disaster. He sighs and pulls her onto his lap in an attempt to cease her screaming.

'Nathan!' She cries out, a smattering of laughter tinkering through her voice, her legs kicking wildly and her hands grappling to be free of his hold.

'I was right.' He says smugly as she wriggles and thrashes.

He hears her groan in frustration at being held captive, 'Let me go!'

'What so you can burn the house down?' He teases, 'I think it's safer if I hold you here and we starve.'

'I was distracted!' She says in her defence, 'You were sitting at the counter and Lloyd starting crying when I was supposed to serve up. It's your fault.'

'Distracted by something you saw, Sawyer?' He wags his eyebrows and grins smugly.

Her eyes flicker over his wide shoulders and finally she settles in his lap, her legs wrapped around his hips and her hands creeping over his flexing muscles.

She shrugs, having already admitted to him that she was in the mood, 'You've kept me waiting all afternoon with your little Nana nap.'

'Quit moaning and kiss me.' He commands, reaching his hand to her curls and pulling her lips towards his.

'Ahem.'

Nathan pulls away quickly, jolted by the interruption but Peyton just sighs and rolls her eyes.

'Correct me if I'm wrong, Nathan,' Dan growls, 'but whether you play in tomorrow night's game is riding on your grades and attendance? Now am I right or am I right?'

Peyton slips out of Nathan's hold and moves beside him, running her hand across his back in a show of support.

'Well?' Dan pushes, throwing Peyton a loathing look. 'Is it Sophomore skip day? Maybe it's get your girlfriend pregnant at sixteen day? Or perhaps it's ruin your basketball career in one clean sweep day?'

'There was a problem with the baby.' Nathan offers in a dull tone, sure that it won't make any difference.

Dan's eyes widen, 'Oh, there was something wrong with the baby? Right, right, so now that screeching piece of plastic takes priority over the rest of your life, your stake at making it in the NBA?'

'It's for school.' Nathan returns.

'So is summer reading but you've never bothered with that before.' Dan scoffs at his son, 'If Whitey drops you for this, Nathan, if all your work towards Duke goes to waste, if you've thrown everything away,'

It seems that he doesn't quite have the words to finish the sentence but there's a distinct edge to his voice, a threatening tone that both teens hear. They know that if in fact Nathan is dropped, he will pay the price heavily at the hand of Dan.

'Mr Scott.' Peyton addresses the livid man.

His head snaps to her as though he's just been reminded that she's present at the exchange. He narrows his eyes menacingly but doesn't cut her down.

'It was my fault.' She manages, 'I pulled Nathan from school, I could have sorted the baby out on my own but I persuaded him to come with me. I'll explain to Whitey if I need to.'

Dan snorts at her admission, 'If you wouldn't mind Miss Sawyer, I'd quite like a _private_ word with my son.'

It takes Peyton a moment of indecision and then a gentle nudge from Nathan before she follows the older man's instruction.

'And take that _thing_ with you.' Dan directs, pointing towards the baby which is across the room seemingly silenced by the mere presence of his "grandfather".

Peyton grabs the car seat and bottles before sweeping from the room with one last long sympathetic look into her boyfriend's eyes.

She stays just outside the door, within earshot of Dan Scott's rants as he relentlessly continues to remind Nathan of the things he already knows. She presses herself against the wall and closes her eyes, letting out a drawn out breath as she listens intently.

'_Your basketball career is in jeopardy and all you're doing is giving Whitey more ammunition. I hope she's worth it, Nathan, trust me, after sixteen years hot young blondes become tired nagging wives. Do not throw basketball away for her.'_

Peyton almost laughs, wondering whether Dan really knows Nathan at all. The boy lives and breathes for basketball, it always comes first.

It doesn't bother her, not really, she always knew it would be that way right from when they first started dating. Basketball has been at the centre of his life since the day he was born, and she came along much later, she's always understood that his first love is the game. She wouldn't change it about him though, she likes his fire, his passion and his dedication, basketball's a part of him just as music is a part of her.

'_How exactly are you planning on being fresh for tomorrow when that baby constantly screams all night? If by some miracle Whitey doesn't hold a grudge and plays you of course.'_

Peyton just makes out Nathan mumbling something about her tending to the baby tonight.

'_Well I hope she gets to that thing a damn bit quicker than last night, I gave up on sleepless nights a long time ago, I don't need any more.'_

She winces as he rants, knowing that she's not the quickest person when it comes to jumping out of bed, whatever the emergency.

'_Get to that school and get grovelling.' _

Dan storms from the room and slams the door on his exit, causing Lloyd to launch into a chorus of screams. Peyton smiles at the baby, happy for the first time to hear his desperate cries. Dan thumps his fist against the wall as he passes them, clearly seething at the scene of happy families he encountered in his kitchen.

'My Dad's pissed.' Nathan tells her as he too emerges, in case she was in any doubt of Dan's mood.

'Lloyd's pissed.' Peyton adds and they both laugh.

* * *

_I wasn't going to post tonight but I'm in such a lovely mood that I just had to. I'd love to hear from you, I have a question even if you'd like to partake; what's your favourite NP moment? Just for fun, intrigue, me being nosy. Anyway only if you'd like to! Lexie :)_


	3. Chapter 3

_Hi there, massive apologies to you all for the wait on this! Summer is not a good time for me, I'm crazy busy and just don't get enough time for writing, which is so annoying! Anyway, finally I got this done!_

_I just want to say a HUGE thanks for everyone who reviewed the last two chapters, I'm actually blown away by the feedback - even though I think to myself who doesn't love some NP? Haha. It really means a lot though, so thank you, you guys always make me smile!_

_Anyway, hope that you continue to enjoy, Lexie :)_

Even though his head is buried beneath both his pillows and his comforter, Lloyd's piercing screams are still managing to penetrate Nathan's eardrums. Beside him he just hears Peyton's groan over the sounds of the wails, he feels her body shift in position and then a rise in the mattress and a rush of cool air telling him that she's gone to see to the baby.

He hears her stumble and a curse word escape her lips in a burst of fury that she doesn't bother to keep to a whisper.

It's one in the morning and Nathan doesn't think that they've had more than twenty minutes sleep between them thanks to the kid. To her credit, Peyton's got up to settle him each and every time he wakes them, although perhaps not at the speed that Dan would prefer.

When the screams finally diminish, he hears his bedroom door open and through the opening in his cocoon of sheets he sees a stream of light flood the room. He braces himself for the attack Dan's about to unleash on them but the shouts never come. Nathan frowns as he hears the door close again and wonders if that was his once in a lifetime miracle; gone before he could appreciate and enjoy it.

He decides not to worry about it, not when the house is finally still and calm, instead he turns onto his front and slips into a much desired slumber.

The next time Nathan's awoken it's not to screaming but a persistent knocking. Blearily he opens his eyes, surprised to see that he's made it to five-thirty with no further interruptions.

'Nathan.' Dan's voice calls through his bedroom door, 'Let's go, I want to see you warming up in five minutes.'

He wipes the sleep from his eyes and relishes in the feeling of being refreshed and revitalised. He rolls over to face Peyton, reaching his hand out to stroke her skin that's always warm to the touch in the mornings.

His fingers ribbon the air and his blue eyes fail to meet with her sparkling green. All that lies before him is a mess of tangled sheets and a cold spot where her body should be curled; an empty pillow that should be covered with a splay of golden curls; and silence that should be filled with the gentle rhythm of her breathing.

Instantly he panics, thinking that he's forgotten a fight they had or something awful he said to her when he wasn't thinking but he can't remember an exchange of any kind.

It takes a few long minutes for his early morning brain to register the fact that not only is Peyton absent but so is the spawn of Chuckie. That explains his restful night.

He finds her downstairs, coiled up tightly on the couch. She's snoring softly, something he's only seen her do after all-night parties, showing him that she's exhausted. He grabs a blanket from the next room and drapes it over her sleeping form, knowing that she likes to nestle in the sheets something that usually leaves Nathan fighting her for the quilt. His fingers graze her bare shoulder, and he notes just how cold she is, a stark contrast to her usual feverish warmth.

Sighing he turns and faces the baby carrier where Lloyd is blissfully sleeping, 'Sleep deprived Peyton, thanks a lot.'

* * *

Following his run, Nathan returns to find Peyton slumped at the kitchen counter, the only sign of life being her fingers that are lovingly stroking a steaming coffee mug.

He approaches her cautiously, aware that like an active volcano she could erupt at any time. He wraps his arms around her shoulders and drops a kiss into her locks.

He hears her inhale deeply, 'You'd better win tonight, Nate. You better play the best damn game of your life because I just lost a whole night I'll never get back for your sake.'

'I'll light it up.' He promises, whispering gently into her flaxen curls.

Finally she raises her head and he meets with her wide green eyes. She may be tired after spending most of her night relentlessly working at calming the baby but still her eyes sparkle. There's a glimmer that he knows he'll never tire of seeing, it's pride mixed in with just the slightest hint of her sarcastic humour somehow illuminated in her wondrous orbs.

'You'd better.' She warns.

He smirks, 'Don't expect anything less, Sawyer.'

She's so tired that she doesn't even bother to roll her eyes.

* * *

'This is the worst day ever.' Nathan moans loudly, slamming the door of the Comet as he gets out, causing Lloyd to start screaming, 'And go figure, it just got worse.'

'Your day's bad?' Peyton returns, reaching for the wailing infant, 'At least you got to sleep last night!'

Nathan kicks his sneaker against the kerb in a burst of anger, 'This stupid kid is ruining everything!'

'Tell me something I don't know!' Peyton rages, equally frustrated as she drags the car seat along with her holdall towards the front door as he dawdles. 'Could you be any more useless if you tried?'

'Leave it, Peyton.' Nathan orders, storming past her as the door opens.

She scowls and chases after him as he goes through to the kitchen, 'Hey! None of this is my fault so you can stop blaming me, alright?'

He grabs a bottle of amber liquid and takes a swig causing him to wince.

'Great, Nathan, real great!' Peyton shouts over Lloyds crying, 'I'll deal with the baby, you get drunk!'

'Well it is Friday night.' He shrugs, unconcerned, helping himself to another gulp.

'And it's your turn to look after Lloyd.' Peyton says firmly, her hands on her hips and her eyes scathing. 'I was up all night!'

Nathan laughs, 'Like hell I'm looking after that thing! I'm done with this assignment.'

'You're _done_?' She repeats, rocking Lloyd rather violently as she does.

'Yep.' He smiles, 'What does it matter anyway? I do this stupid project just like Whitey told me and I still get benched, so I'm done with playing happy families.'

Peyton rolls her glassy orbs, 'You got benched because you went mad at Miss Lloyd, remember?'

Nathan only shrugs, not wanting to admit that she's right, 'She deserved it.'

'Maybe.' She says through a sly smile as she thinks back to the incident, 'But what did you expect Whitey to do exactly? He had to keep you on the bench.'

'No he didn't.' Nathan argues, probably just for the sake of arguing, 'He could have played me, easily. But he wanted to be stubborn and so we lost.'

'Because you weren't there to save them from defeat.' Peyton says in a dull tone, as though she really doesn't want to listen to his inflated ego rattle on.

'Exactly.' He nods, oblivious to her sarcasm. 'Now it's Game Night, and I'm getting drunk.'

Peyton raises her eyebrows, 'And what do you expect me to do when you're having a good time?'

He turns away as though he feels some kind of guilt, 'Let's dump the kid.'

'Dump the kid?' Peyton cries out, 'You can't afford to fail.'

'This whole thing is stupid.' He says defiantly, 'Just look where that freaky doll has got me.'

She interrogates him with her deep eyes as he follows his last drink with another.

'What?' He demands, not liking her judgement.

'Well drinking won't help you.' She tells him, arms folded across her chest.

He doesn't look convinced, 'Actually I feel better already.'

She swipes the bottle from him; precious droplets of whiskey slopping over the counter top as she does so, 'If you carry on drinking and refuse to help me then you can find somewhere else to sleep tonight.'

That silences Nathan for a second as he weighs up his options. Following his uproar in Miss Lloyd's class he found himself benched at the game which led to an unparalleled thunder of rage from Dan Scott. In his fury, Dan had thrown Peyton and Lloyd out of the house, claiming that they were to blame for Nathan's ban as they were too much of a distraction. In a surprising act of solidarity, Nathan had walked out with them although Peyton was sure that it was more about sticking two fingers up at Dan than in support for her. So the trio were now at Peyton's where Nathan was dipping into Larry Sawyer's liquor supply at speed.

'I can stay at Tim's.' Nathan finally decides after racking his brains.

'No you can't.' Peyton smiles at being one step ahead, 'Tim's gone away for the weekend, I've heard all about it from Brooke.'

'So Tim gets out of this crazy assignment and I don't?' Nathan cries out like a jealous child.

Peyton gives him an exasperated look, 'Actually he's got the baby for the weekend, well, his step-mom has anyway. Brooke says she's crazy broody and has taken over looking after Evie for them.'

'This sucks.' Nathan declares, 'Why isn't my Mom a weird baby obsessed woman?'

'Maybe you put her off babies for life.' Peyton suggests wryly.

Nathan only huffs in response.

'Look, we're stuck with the kid whether we like it or not and it doesn't look like we're going to get any help with it anytime soon, so you've got to suck it up and deal with it.' Peyton says flatly, 'What's that thing you do in sports when you're in a corner? You've got to do that here.'

'Nice speech and all but I still want to go to a party rather than babysit.' Nathan replies.

She rolls her eyes again, 'And I don't?'

'No, you want to sleep, remember?' He tells her cheekily. 'So how about you go to bed and I go to the party for a few hours?'

'How about no?' She snorts, 'For the last time, you're not leaving me with the stupid baby.'

He pouts and falls into a nearby chair, 'So we both suffer?'

'You get to spend the night with me.' She offers.

'That would be great and all but you're about half an hour from dreaming.' He replies, 'Friday night with a screaming psycho kid and a passed out girlfriend, wow I can't wait.'

'I'm not _that _tired.' Peyton sighs.

'No offence, Babe, but you look like a zombie.' He tells her.

'Hey! I made it through the routine and the game just fine.' She argues back, 'And I know that you were checking me out from the bench so I can't look that bad.'

He throws her a half-smirk, 'Maybe I wasn't checking you out, maybe I was shooting you daggers because I had to look after the kid for the whole game whilst you shook your pompoms.'

'Then you suck at shooting daggers.' She laughs, 'And for the record, you were totally checking me out.'

He shrugs, 'Okay, so I was, but it was better than watching the guys lose the game.'

'What's the point in going to a party anyway?' Peyton questions, 'We lost, everyone will be down and then they'll be a fight.'

'It's tradition.' He supplies as an excuse.

She wraps a coy smile around her lips, 'How about we start our own tradition?'

'If it involves a kid, then hell no.' He says flatly.

'How about me, you and a bed?' She puts forward.

'Better.' He admits, 'But I have a feeling that you'll end up asleep in the bed and I'll be left with kid.'

'Quit whining and let me show you how proud I am of you for that little speech you gave Miss Lloyd today and for standing up to your Dad.'

'What did you have in mind?' He questions, distracted from his plans to go to the party.

She pads towards him and leans over, her ringlets falling into his face and her legs teasing him, she whispers softly, 'Something dirty.'

'If you fall asleep,' He warns.

'I'm not falling asleep!' She bites back, then takes his hand in hers and leads him to the stairway, 'Come on, and if you can repeat a bit of what you said to Miss Lloyd today, I'll do that thing you love.'

Instantly his eyes light up, 'Which bit?'

'The part where you told her _I don't care about your dumb little games, I care about my girlfriend and thanks to you she's now suffering because you didn't give her a minute's sleep last night! _Or something like that.' She replays for him.

'What about the part where I told her off because she was going to make us lose State?' Nathan asks, clearly remembering his own favourite part of his rant.

She chuckles, 'Sure, throw it in.'

He smirks and is starting to see that a night in might not be so bad after all. He follows her lead up the staircase, his eyes on her sashaying hips and skimpy cheer uniform the whole time.

* * *

'You have got a lot to answer for!' Nathan rages to the oblivious doll he's cradling with little affection.

He's stood on the porch out the back, trying his hardest to rock the baby to sleep without losing his temper and chucking the kid across the yard in frustration. Thanks to the doll and Miss Lloyd, Nathan thinks dryly, he's just had to leave his playful, sexy, teasing girlfriend upstairs just at the point where things were getting exciting to come and tend to the needs of a piece of plastic with very bad timing.

'Have a pacifier.' He offers, trying to push the thing into the baby's mouth but to little success. He groans and reaches for the baby monitor that is connected to the one in Peyton's room, 'Peyton! Don't you dare fall asleep on me!'

He has no idea whether she's heard him or not due to the fact that her one is only a speaker and has no talkback function, he can only hope that she hasn't succumb to her exhaustion.

Unfortunately for him the wailing only seems to be getting louder and more persistent and it doesn't look like he's going to make it back to bed any time soon. This is inconvenient for two reasons; the first is the obvious fact that his hot girlfriend is waiting for him, the other is that he's outside in only his boxers and it's getting damn cold.

He wonders quite how Peyton talked him into being the one to get up and see to the demon baby seeing as he'd vowed not to but when she acts all seductive, there's little he won't do for her.

Just as he's beginning to come to the conclusion that his night is lost and his girl's going to be flat out by the time he returns to her, he hears a door close from inside the house. Even though the baby's doing it's best to ruin the night, Nathan smiles because she's come to keep him company.

He has his back to the door, so he doesn't see her approach, he only hears her footsteps cross the deck and sees her breath pass over his shoulder when she's right behind him. Her arms wrap around his shoulders and her lips brush his neck. He loves that she's tall enough to do that.

'It's freezing out here,' She notes in a breathy tone.

He gives a short laugh, 'Well if you're still wearing what I left you in then I'm not surprised you're cold.'

He feels her lips curve into a smile against his skin, 'Guess what?'

He hates these games but plays along, 'You're desperate to get me into bed?'

'Conceited, much?' She returns, running her fingertips down his back. 'No, I've ordered in.'

He frowns, 'Jeez, I know you can eat but we already had takeout, you cannot still be hungry!'

She tiptoes round him so that they're now face to face and that gleam's in her eye, 'One of the freshmen on the squad totally owes me for saving her Mom's birthday; I drew some banners, blah, blah. Anyway, I just hooked us up with a babysitter.'

'That is the single greatest sentence you have ever said to me.' He laughs.

She quirks an eyebrow, 'What better than that promise I just made you in my bedroom?'

'Well, no, that's in another league.' He admits, 'So when does she get here? How long is she taking Chuckie for?'

'Give her ten minutes.' Peyton guesses, 'And she's taking him for the night, she even offered to have him at her's; some kind of revenge for her parents or something.'

'A whole night without this piece of junk.' He smirks, referring to the doll in his hands, 'How can I ever repay you?'

'Oh, I have a few things in mind.'

* * *

Peyton awakes to the smell of bacon cooking and it takes her a while to register that she's in her own house. Frowning, she sits up and recounts the night before; it shouldn't be a hard task considering the fact that she didn't drink but she was so deathly tired that she might as well of been.

Eventually she remembers that Nathan spent the night and Lloyd was at his own slumber party. She also recalls promising Nathan some very dirty treats but her memories run out a little after the chase to the bedroom.

She grabs one of his shirts that's in a heap on her floor, pulls it over her head and pads down the stairs, following the alluring smell of breakfast to the kitchen and her boyfriend.

'Morning.' She greets.

He turns and raises one eyebrow, 'Hey.'

She notes his edgy tone, 'What did I do?'

Pointing the cooking tongs in her direction he begins, 'FYI, snoring is not good foreplay, it's not even remotely sexy.'

She cringes, 'I fell asleep?'

'Asleep?' He questions, 'I think that's what they call a coma. You wouldn't wake up no matter how hard I kicked you.'

'Hey!' She cries out, 'That's not fair.'

He smirks, 'Then I won't tell you what else I did.'

'Nathan!' Anger flashes in her eyes. 'Tell me.'

'I like living, thanks.' He says as he goes to serve the bacon.

She narrows her eyes, 'Hang on, if you're mad at me, why are you the one that's cooking breakfast.'

'I really don't want to say.' Nathan shakes his head, 'Just remember though, you promised me so much and then you spent the night doing a great impression of an unconscious elephant.'

She sets her hands on her hips and throws her most menacing glare, 'What have you done?'

'I was bored,' He begins, 'And you'd just fallen asleep on me, right?'

In response she nods slowly.

'So I might have taken up a little sketching.' He shrugs.

Instantly she pales a few shades, 'You drew in my sketch books?'

'No.' He says uneasily, 'More of a living canvas.'

It takes a moment for her to realise just what he means by that, and by the time she does, he's already set off running.

Before she sets off after him she takes a quick glance in the mirror, besides the fact that she has _Nathan Scott Rules _across her forehead, she can't help noticing the hopelessness of his artistic attempts.

'Nathan!' She calls through the house, 'Can I just say that you completely suck!'

'Not according to your face!' He calls back.

'Just what exactly is supposed to be on my cheek?' She asks.

He sounds offended, 'It's an elephant, kind of how you were last night.'

'Oh and Nathan?'

'Yeah?'

'You're so dead!' She informs him before following the sound of his voice to the closet upstairs.

She yanks the handle but he's holding the door firmly shut, 'It's not my fault, blame the damn baby.'

And speak of the devil, the doorbell rings and the root of all their problems is home again.

'How are we going to survive the weekend?' Peyton calls through the wood.

'Beats me.' He returns, 'I figure if I make it to Monday it'll be a miracle.'

'Damn right.' She agrees frostily.

* * *

_So although I'm quite sure that this isn't advertising space, I have a favour to ask a willing NP fan, if anyone would like. _

_I'm currently writing a oneshot (a really long one) and I just don't know if it's working at all. It's kind of different from most of my usual stuff and sometimes I can get carried away in just writing what I like whilst losing track of the point and I really don't want that to happen here. I think it needs a fresh pair of eyes and some guidance. It's not finished and is a bit choppy but if anyone doesn't mind seeing work before it's complete, I'd love for someone to give it a read and offer me some pointers._

_If you're up for it, let me know._

_Thank you again for reading :)_


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm sorry (again) for the long wait here! I've had a really busy summer and this chapter was so difficult! You'll be glad to hear that thanks to the way my mind works, the next chapter is already written. In fact I wrote it a while ago, way before this one…but anyway!_

_I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who offered to look my oneshot over. I really wasn't expecting so many willing readers! I'm sorry that I then had to turn so many of you down. I didn't want to say no to people but once I had two people helping I thought that any more would confuse me and pull it in different directions perhaps. But I really am grateful and I'll bear you all in mind if I still need any help :)_

_This one's really short but the more I kept adding and messing with it, the less I liked it. I hope you like what survived the delete button anyway._

* * *

Peyton holds Lloyd's legs up with one hand and rolls the "used" diaper up with the other, 'Heads.'

Nathan reaches out and catches the bundled cloth with ease from his lounged position across the room. He then plunges his hand into the diaper bag to find a pacifier without glancing up from the game he's watching.

'Hit me.' Peyton instructs after securing the fresh diaper. She grabs the binky from the air as it sails from Nathan towards the make-shift changing table that was previously Peyton's desk.

Over the weekend they've perfected their routine. They've been stuck in the house with Lloyd due to the fact that neither of them too much relishes the thought of being seen in public with a dolly. They both see it as some kind of miracle that they haven't killed each other yet.

Peyton sets Lloyd down in his car seat and pads over to her boyfriend who is shirtless on account that they have no plans on leaving the house. He's engrossed in the game but she doesn't mind, it just means that she can lean up against his warm skin and sketch a little. Really, it's a perfect Sunday afternoon – save for Lloyd of course.

Although Peyton thinks that all of Nathan's attention is on the game, she couldn't be more wrong. As she settles into the curve of his chest, he slips his arm around her slight shoulders and takes in her gorgeous scent. He runs his eyes from her toes, over her legs that are serving as her easel, along her flat stomach to her neckline then across every feature of her face until he reaches her curls. The game's now just a distant memory.

She's completely absorbed in her work. He knows because she hasn't turned around scowling yet; usually she'd feel his eyes on her.

She reaches her hand to her hair which is pulled back into a ponytail and her fingers graze her curls in a habitual manner. Nathan smirks because she's searching for a pencil that for once isn't tucked into her ringlets.

He can't begin to think of how many times he's run his fingers through her hair and ended up with a pen or even a paintbrush in his hand.

'Here, Babe.' He leans across to the cluttered bedside table and grabs the instrument she's searching blindly for.

She smiles softly. It's a small innocent kind of smile, one that he knows most people have never witnessed on her. 'How's the game?'

Shrugging he turns his attention back to the set, 'Kind of dull.'

Her brow arches in surprise, 'It's not that bad. I mean the Celtics are all over them but you've got to love an underdog when they just resort to playing dirty.'

Turns out that she's paying more attention than he is.

'Foul.' She calls out. He loves that she knows her stuff.

'Okay, that was too damn sexy.' He tells her.

Her eyes snap from the game to her boyfriend, confused as to what exactly is turning him on. He laughs lightly under his breath as her dazzling orbs pop in surprise when he leans in for a kiss.

'Nate!'

He quirks an eyebrow in a suggestive manner and she rolls her eyes. Then they both smile because it's typical of them.

It's not long before the sketchbook and pencils fall to the floor with a thud but neither teen notices.

* * *

There's a song playing that Nathan doesn't recognise but the way that it's making Peyton's hips move makes him hope that it's a long one. Music is like magic to her, in an instant her whole frame of mind can be transformed just with a few opening chords. If only he understood the mystery of it.

She hums as she moves around the kitchen, unloading the dishwasher. He could help out but he's enjoying being a spectator. As he's currently cradling Lloyd in his arms, he's using the doll as his excuse.

Peyton twists round suddenly, her curls bounce lightly with the movement, 'We eat a lot for two people, huh?'

Nathan laughs, 'It's taken you this long to realise?'

She shrugs and the hem of the shirt she's wearing grazes her bare upper thigh. He finds it that little bit hotter just because it's his shirt that she's wearing.

'I've just had the most amazing idea.' Nathan reveals.

Peyton glances up but looks slightly doubtful of his statement.

'Strip Poker!' He doesn't bother to hide his grin.

She wrinkles her nose, 'No.'

'Come on, Peyton, it'll be fun!' He whines, 'Drinking and stripping, I don't know why we haven't played before.'

'I don't know how to play poker.' She offers as a reason.

His eyes shine at her admission, 'You don't know how to play poker? It's done then, we're playing.'

She throws a dishcloth in his direction, 'This is just a not-so-clever way to get me naked.'

'Yeah, and?' He asks, confused as to where the problem is.

Her eyes bore into him but he doesn't see why, 'Um, we just did that like half hour ago, remember?'

He rolls his shoulders in a shrug, 'And wasn't it great?'

Her argument loses strength as her lips twist into a smile, 'Yes but,'

'But what?' He cuts in, 'It's just me, you and some cards.'

'No, it's you, some cards and me naked.' She corrects.

'And that's a bad thing how?' He questions.

She considers his point and concludes that it's a better situation than the last time he suggested Strip Poker. On that occasion it wasn't just the pair of them and some cards; there were about six other girls there too.

'Okay.' She concedes, 'But I'm getting dressed before we play and looking the rules up.'

He pretends to be put out at the news – not that he really needs to pretend, the fact that she's putting more clothes _on _is plain disappointing. Really though, he thinks he's hit the jackpot.

* * *

'Come on, Scott, don't be a sore loser!' Peyton jests before bursting into another wave of laughter at the sorry state that is her boyfriend.

In response Nathan throws his playing cards in her direction, 'You're a cheat!'

'I am not a cheat.' She says, arms folded across her chest, 'I'm just better than you.'

He pouts like a little girl, frustrated to be losing the game which was his suggestion in the first place. It was supposed to be fun, well, fun for Nathan at least. He'd fully intended on winning – obviously – and had planned for Peyton to be naked by this point. As it is she's fully dressed save for a few bits of jewellery that didn't even count as worthwhile items to bet in his opinion. Nathan however is down to his boxers and a sock.

'Lose it already.' Peyton demands, 'Then I can get around to winning the next hand.'

She smirks as he scowls.

'Can I just tell you how much you suck at this?' Peyton asks, even though she already knows the answer.

'Absolutely hilarious, Peyton.' He says with a straight face.

'Isn't it?' She's clearly enjoying herself.

He ignores her cackling laughter and reluctantly removes his penultimate article of clothing. The sock, to Peyton's disappointment.

'Very good, Baby.' She gives him a patronising tap to the head.

'Quit it.' He moans, lifting his hand to smooth out his hair again.

She feels a little sorry for him. She shouldn't considering it's his own fault he's in such a pitiable state but his puppy dog eyes have that power over her. He'd been so excited when she'd agreed to play and had obviously had a few fantasies involving the game but they've all come crashing down thanks to his inability to read her poker face.

Rising from her seat, she grabs another two beers from the fridge as her boyfriend pouts. His brow is furrowed and she suspects he's trying to work out how he's getting played by a novice.

He's so consumed with his theories that he doesn't notice her out the corner of his eye. It's not until a certain article of clothing catches him square in the jaw that he snaps from his daydream.

'Happy now?' She questions, her hands on her smooth bare hips.

It's as though he can't find the words right away which is a new phenomenon – Nathan's rarely speechless. But the sight of her there in just her bra and French knickers is enough to dumbfound him.

'Do you like it?' Peyton spins round so that he can properly appreciate her new purchase.

There had been one small triumph during the dreadful trip to the mall Peyton had suffered through with Lloyd. Brooke, through all of her flaws, was useful for a number of things including her unique gift; choosing lingerie. It was thanks to her and her keen eye that Nathan was receiving such a treat.

The set was lace, low cut and of course revealing but that wasn't the best part, least not for Nathan. It was the fact that it was rich raven blue that had his heart racing.

'How long have you been hiding these?' Nathan finally finds his voice.

'I forgot I had them.' She admits. Following the disaster of the shopping trip, Peyton had dumped her purchases as erased the whole thing from her memory. It was only when she'd gone upstairs to get dressed for poker that she'd stumbled upon them again.

She presses a beer into his hand and he thinks that this may be surpassing all of his expectations for Strip Poker.

Peyton takes a seat on the table that is now covered in a mess of playing cards following Nathan's outburst. She sits right before him and pulls him towards her with the waistband of his underwear. He obediently follows her lead. It's impossible for him not to, with her looking as she does.

Whilst he was busy throwing a little girl tantrum about losing at poker to her, he failed to see just how much Peyton was enjoying it. And not only for the fact that she was beating him.

He wasn't too turned on by her sat across from him in jeans and a t-shirt, maybe just a little because she looks damn hot all the time, but not to an uncontrollable point. Peyton on the other hand was wishing that he would win a few hands already to catch up. She was hot for him. He was a pathetic, grumbling mess and throwing his toys out of the pram but sitting there in his underwear he still looked nothing less than sexy.

So like any girl would, she chose to speed things up a bit.

As he tumbles on top of her teasing body she initiates a kiss. It's not soft, it's not loving and it's not gentle. He pulls away almost gasping for air but she's so infectious that he doesn't pause to catch his breath before replying with a kiss of equal passion.

Then it's her who's the one panting for oxygen.

He leans over her and whispers something dirty in her ear. There's no one around but it feels like the kind of thing that should only be whispered.

He watches as her eyes hood and she bites down on her lower lip, then there's the slightest of nods. He makes quick work of undressing her even though he really loves that underwear. Soon it's just a part of the backdrop just like the cards that served as the catalyst.

Neither of them is quite sure where the lust surged from but both of them felt it and both of them indulged. They christened a few rooms, well, christened them _again _if that's even possible. And then they definitely christened the porch swing.

'I love Strip Poker.' Peyton tells him later when they're entwined in her bed sheets.

'You know I let you win, right?' He questions, to which she just laughs into his chest.

* * *

_Thank you again for reading! __There's just one more chapter to go and an epilogue on this one and for once you won't have to wait too long!_ Lexie :) 


	5. Chapter 5

_Okay guys, this is it the final chapter, enjoy!_

'I'm looking forward to reading your essays tomorrow.' Miss Lloyd smiles widely, 'I'm sure that this experience has taught you all a lot about what it takes to be a Mommy or a Daddy.'

The bell rings and the class begin to file out for lunch but Nathan and Peyton stay rooted to their seats. They share a look of confusion before turning on the woman who's ruined the past seven days of their lives.

Miss Lloyd stares at them expectantly as they both bear over her desk, 'Nathan, Peyton.'

'Yeah, um, this essay,' Nathan begins.

Peyton narrows her eyes, 'We thought that the assignment was looking after the baby.'

'Oh, it is!' The teacher returns enthusiastically, 'But I'm also looking to see what you've all learnt from the experience and how it's shaped you as people and how it's changed your outlook on your future.'

They both pull sour faces at her answer.

'The outline for the essay is in your packs.' Miss Lloyd informs them, 'Really you should have already made a start on them. I did run through it on Friday with the class.'

The teens think back to the lesson in question and remember it for other reasons. It was the day that Nathan lost his temper and Peyton all but fell asleep at her desk following the turbulent night with Lloyd.

'And if we don't do this paper?' Nathan asks, wishing that his cocky charm worked with Miss Lloyd.

She smiles sweetly, 'Then I think Coach Durham will have to find someone to take your spot in Friday's game.'

Nathan clenches his fists. It's not just that she's taunting him, it's also the fact that she's speaking in a patronising sing-song tone.

Peyton slips her slight fingers around his right hand - his striking out, punching hand - and strokes small circles over his skin with her thumb in a soothing motion. He snaps his gaze from the teacher he loathes to his girlfriend. She can tell instantly that he's seething and tries to tell him to calm down using just her wide eyes.

'Peyton,' His voice is a growl.

'Shh,' She hushes him in a firm tone, 'We'll work on it together tonight.'

'Ah,' Miss Lloyd cuts in with a pointed finger, 'I'd really like if the parents worked separately on this, I'd much prefer to hear your individual voices coming through.'

A sharp look from Peyton makes Miss Lloyd recoil slightly but quickly the curly blonde's expression changes from a scowl to a beaming smile.

She flutters her long eyelashes, 'It's just that Nathan and I feel like a real unit now, like _parents_ are. We've spent this experience working together, dealing with the baby; it just feels like we should write this together.'

Miss Lloyd looks a little shocked at what she may have created in Nathan and Peyton, 'Well, I mean that's good that you've bonded over this, as long as you're not quite ready to be parents just yet!'

Her nervous laughter fills the room and Nathan can't help but smirk.

Peyton raises her eyebrows in a suggestive manner, 'So can we write this piece together? Only both of us spending the night on individual assignments could really mess up Lloyd's bedtime routine.'

Nathan has to refrain from bursting with laughter at the amount of sarcasm pouring from Peyton. The closest thing they have to a bedtime routine is the pair of them screaming at the baby to shut up.

'I guess it can't hurt this once.' Miss Lloyd caves, 'It's really encouraging to see the difference in you two. I did worry at first but to hear that you even have a bedtime routine; that shows real maturity.'

Both students hold in the laughs as mature is probably a very inaccurate description of their parenting.

Miss Lloyd untucks her pen behind her ear, 'I'm very impressed and I think Coach Durham will be too. I'm going to pass on my thoughts. Just tell me quickly, Nathan, what are you learning from this?'

His eyes widen and instantly he looks to Peyton for help but she just shrugs, 'Um, me? Well, I'm learning, to, um,'

'He's learning to _lullaby_.' Peyton smiles and Nathan throws her a thunderous look.

Miss Lloyd frowns, 'He's learning to lullaby?'

'I know, I couldn't believe it either.' Peyton tells her, 'But I walked in on him singing to the baby the other night.'

'I don't lullaby.' Nathan tries to clarify but Miss Lloyd just nods robotically; a fixed grin across her features.

Peyton claps her hand on her boyfriend's shoulder, 'Nate, lets go and get lunch.'

She then pulls him from the room, grabbing the baby carrier along the way.

'What was that all about?' Nathan hisses as soon as they're out of earshot.

Peyton's eyes are twinkling, 'Can't you see what I just did for you? I think she probably loves you a little bit now. Think about it; I just told crazy baby lady that you sing lullabies to a doll.'

He huffs and rolls his shoulders, 'Don't get jealous if she starts stalking me then.'

Peyton rolls her eyes, 'I hope she does because I know she freaks you out even more than the baby.'

Nathan shivers, 'You better hope that doesn't happen, Sawyer.'

'Don't you think I could take her if she tried to pull you away into her spooky baby lair?' Peyton questions him and he pulls a pained face.

'Don't ever mention that woman with a spooky baby lair again.' He warns darkly before smirking, 'But yeah, you could totally take her.'

* * *

'_Over the past week I've learnt that there is something scarier than Peyton when she's grumpy, and that's the psycho doll we had to look after for seven days.' _Nathan smirks proudly as he reads his work aloud.

'Will you take this seriously for a minute?' Peyton rages, jabbing him in the arm in a not so playful manner. She's hard at work on their essay and all he's doing is messing about.

'Hey! That hurt!' He cries out, 'And lighten up a bit, it's just dumb Health Class.'

She drops her pen and throws her hands up, 'Oh, you should have said earlier! Only I've just spent the past hour trying to save your spot on the team.'

'Like Whitey could manage without me.' Nathan shrugs arrogantly.

He receives a screwed up ball of paper to the head courtesy of his girlfriend, 'It amazes me just how much you love yourself.'

'Don't deny it, you love me too.' He jests, leaning back on two chair legs, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Peyton bites down on her lip and gives him a glazed look, distracting him completely. He's so captivated by her smouldering looks that he almost doesn't catch himself when she pushes his chair backwards with the tip of her converse sneakers.

His arms flail and his eyes pop with surprise as Peyton cackles at his shock. Finally his feet find the floor and he saves himself from falling into a bundled heap on the carpet.

'That wasn't funny.' He pouts, righting himself slowly.

'Neither was your little jibe about me being grumpy.' She returns, her emerald eyes sharp and dark.

He huffs and puts his head in his hands, 'I'm hungry, I can't work on an empty stomach.'

'Nathan!' She whines, 'We don't have time.'

He snorts, 'We don't have time to eat now? It's not as though we've got to cook, it's just one little phone call to the pizza place.'

'Do we have to get pizza again?' She asks, forgetting her work ethic instantly with the mention of ordering in.

Nathan sees his opening, 'Course not, Babe, whatever you want.'

'My stomach's begging for some greasy noodles right now.' She reveals, 'Want the usual?'

They should probably be embarrassed that all of the takeout houses know them both by name and their orders from memory. Rather than any embarrassment though, all they see is convenience, as they never have to list their favourites when calling - and they have a lot of favourites.

'I'm on it.' Nathan tells her, pressing the speed dial on his cell.

She smirks and wraps a curl around her pen as she listens to Nathan chatter away to Lee who works at their favourite oriental restaurant. She realises that it's been a set up but doesn't mind.

'Lee says hi.' Nathan tells her as he hangs up, 'And he's giving us extra fortune cookies.'

'He always does.' Peyton shakes her head. 'You always manage to persuade him.'

'All part of the charm.' He winks cheekily.

She chuckles, 'Don't remind me, you've already managed a break from the assignment and we haven't really started yet.'

'Haven't really started yet?' He repeats, 'You've been writing for ages! How much more can there be to do? It's Health Class.'

'So you keep saying.' She says dully.

He reaches over to snatch her notebook and look over what she's already written.

'Nathan,' She grabs for the book but he's too quick.

'So this is how you expect to save my spot on the team, huh?' He quirks an eyebrow, 'All you've done is a weirdly accurate sketch of the devil child.'

She folds her arms across her chest, 'That is not all I've done; I've started the essay. It's a good likeness to Lloyd though, don't you think?'

He throws the book down on the table, 'Yeah great because that's what we need; a lasting memento of our week from hell.'

'Maybe I'll frame it and give it to you for your birthday.' Peyton says with a twinkle in her eye.

'You dare.' He warns.

'And you'll do what?' She asks, teasing him knowingly.

He rounds the table and she stands up, hands on hips. She raises her eyebrows expectantly and grins at his flat threat.

Seeing that he's backed into a corner, he does the only thing he can think to do. He takes her slight frame in his arms, ignoring the kicking and screaming that accompanies the action. He throws her over his shoulder and slaps her on the ass.

'Put me down!' She orders but there's laughter in her voice.

Neither of them really understands how they can go from arguing one minute to flirting the next, but its all part of the rollercoaster. Through all the thunder and raging, there's always the underlying attraction that neither of them can deny. He still finds her impossibly sexy even when she draws frankly scary pictures. And she never stops mentally undressing him even when he's messing about rather than essay writing.

'Maybe I'll just take you upstairs and lock you in the bedroom for a while.' Nathan suggests, heading towards the hallway, 'We can skip school tomorrow. Come on, the day with me or a day spent in the classroom listening to Miss Crazy? No contest, right?'

She's still slung over his shoulder and so beats the back of his thighs with her fists, 'No contest whatsoever. We're going to school tomorrow and we're handing that baby back, no matter what.'

'So we really do have to write that essay?' Nathan asks, as though there could possibly have been a way to get away with it.

'Yes! We do! Now put me down already!' Peyton demands and to her surprise he complies.

'It's gonna be a long night.' He guesses, knowing how they both are when it comes to writing assignments. It's not that they don't know their stuff and they're both smart enough, it's just that they're so easily distracted, not least by each other.

'Sure is.' Peyton agrees.

Nathan frowns, as though thinking deeply, 'Okay but this is not over. As soon as the baby's gone we're doing some serious catching up.'

Peyton looks at her boyfriend; his suggestive eyes, his determined set jaw and of course his athletic body, 'I might just hold you to that.'

'Damn, why are you so sexy when I can't have you?' He mutters but she hears.

'We could take a break, just until the food gets here?' Peyton suggests even though they both know that it'll just set them back further.

Nathan replies with a chaste kiss, roaming hands and a step towards the stairs.

'It's going to be a very long night.' Peyton concludes as she pulls his t-shirt over his head. Instantly all thoughts of life lessons are forgotten when she's temporarily hypnotised by the sight of Nathan's bare torso before her.

* * *

Peyton pads from her bathroom to her bed where Nathan's lying waiting for her to brush her teeth. He yawns widely causing her to yawn widely too, it was as predicted a very long night. If it were any other morning they'd both still be in bed but they're ready for school because it's the day they say goodbye to parenthood.

'Do you realise that Lloyd hasn't screamed once all night?' Peyton points out.

Both of them frown and peer cautiously at the carrier, as though Lloyd's lying in wait for them. The doll is just "sleeping" peacefully though. Nathan and Peyton share a bemused look and rather than being relieved they just look a little freaked out.

Suddenly Peyton's eyes widen in understanding, 'I totally think my little lullaby line worked. I mention that you're the Baby Whisperer and the kid doesn't make one noise all night.'

'No way.' He argues, 'The thing's broken, it must be.'

To demonstrate he picks the doll up and shakes it. Peyton winces and waits for the wails to come, which they inevitably do.

'Great one, Genius.' She compliments as he glares.

She leaves him to tend to the baby; she hasn't got anything else to do but she wants to take one last chance to see him struggle with the nightmare baby before they get their freedom back. There's something undeniably hilarious and just a little bit sexy about seeing him play Daddy.

'What are you doing?' He questions when he sees Peyton jumps up like she's received an electric shock.

She grins devilishly as she roots through a mess drawer, 'Nothing.'

He frowns, clearly not believing her but goes about settling Lloyd before wondering about the mysterious actions of his girlfriend.

It's for that reason that he's unprepared to shield himself when Peyton swivels around with a camera in hand. She catches a picture of Nathan as he's feeding Lloyd with somewhat of a gentle, considerate grace about him. Just a second later his air transforms from caring to murderous.

'Peyton!' He leaps up and grabs for the camera.

'I'm keeping it.' She sings, dancing away from him, 'This is like the best bargaining tool ever!'

Nathan decides that he'll deal with Peyton later, for now his main concern is getting to the school and dumping the demon for good. He gets all of Lloyd's bits together and begrudgingly realises that in the past week he's been transformed into the person in the picture - although he'll never admit it aloud.

'Nate, hurry up!' Peyton calls from downstairs.

'Trust me, I'm coming!' He yells back, and literally sets off running.

Neither of them have made reference to the fact that they're about half an hour early for school - it would be nerdy to do so - but they have good reason to be ahead of their usual schedule. The pair of them are desperate to be free of their parental responsibilities.

'Check out the Geek Squad.' Nathan says when they pull into the lot.

Peyton, who is more impressed by how close they've managed to park to the school, glances up at the quad, 'Nate, we're just as early.'

'Peyton, that's plain dork over there.' Nathan says as though she's missing the obvious point, 'We're not anything like that; we're just getting rid of the doll.'

She rolls her eyes at his logic but doesn't bother to comment. Instead she just grabs the baby carrier and follows Nathan towards the school, noticing that her boyfriend is practically marching.

'You've got the essay right?' Nathan calls back to her as he pulls open the door.

'Yep.' She confirms, 'Where's the fire?'

Nathan pauses in his rush and takes Peyton's hand so that he's able to drag her along at the same speed he's going towards the classroom. 'Peyt, the quicker we get to Miss Lloyd, the sooner we get rid of the kid.'

'Fine, fine.' She concedes and allows him to lead her away.

When they reach the room he doesn't bother to knock, he just strolls straight in, takes the carrier from Peyton and places it on the desk.

'Good Morning.' Miss Lloyd greets them, clearly surprised to see them both so early.

'One baby.' Nathan presents the doll.

Miss Lloyd smiles her wide, mad smile, 'Nathan, class isn't for another two hours.'

He scowls, 'One baby. It has all its limbs and has no chips or dents.'

Peyton raises her eyebrows in amusement at his description of the doll's condition.

'Plus here's the essay.' He adds, 'Now me and Peyton have a real important appointment to get to.'

'Both of you?' Miss Lloyd says through narrowed eyes.

'Yep.' Nathan looks quickly to Peyton and winks, 'Lloyd's taught us real loads, Miss, well, you did anyway. We have a very important doctor's appointment, if you know what I mean.'

Miss Lloyd and Peyton are both speechless. Nathan takes it as his opportunity to grab his girlfriend and run away from his teacher's terrified reaction.

'Nathan, what the hell was that?' Peyton demands once they're out of earshot and she's back to being dragged down the corridor.

'That was revenge.' Nathan explains. 'And don't feel sorry for her, she deserved it. She's loved playing puppet master, it serves her right.'

'So you thought it would be a good idea to tell her we're expecting?' Peyton rages as they run across the quad.

He holds up a pointed finger, 'I never said that.'

Peyton can't seem to help the coy smile from inching to her lips, 'You're mean.'

'Don't go soft, not now, not when we're finally free.' Nathan begs, 'We have no freaking baby, Sawyer, let's go make the most of it.'

Peyton doesn't argue, she just slips into the passenger seat and buckles up, it takes her a minute to realise that Nathan hasn't started up the engine. She turns to him and discovers that he's just staring at her.

'What?' She questions through a smile.

He shakes his head, 'Nothing, nothing.'

'Shall we go then?' She asks.

He laughs and starts the car, pulling out of the space as the rest of the students begin to arrive, 'Ready for a great day, Sawyer?'

'What do you have in mind?' She asks, walking her fingers across his broad shoulders in a teasing manner.

'How about we go a _not _make a baby?' He suggests.

'I've never wanted to do anything more.' She grins.

* * *

_Okay guys that's it! The end of their week with Lloyd! There will be an epilogue though. Let me know what you thought, I'd love to hear from you guys, Lexie :)_


	6. Epilogue

_This is the epilogue, it jumps forward to the end of senior year, to the party in 4x21. Everything from Season 1-4 has happened (including all LP and NH). It's probably not what you might have expected from a NP fic but I'm keeping it canon. Some lines are from the show. _

_I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has read this story and a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed, it means a lot. I've loved writing this and I can't say that it hasn't sparked a few fresh ideas! For now though, I hope you enjoy this!_

Lucas and Peyton are in a quiet spot away from the party when Haley and Nathan find them. Everyone's a little bit emotional thanks to all of the goodbyes they've exchanged already that night. Lucas, Haley and Nathan are about to head off to college whilst Brooke and Peyton are leaving for Los Angeles tomorrow.

Out the corner of her eye Peyton spies Nathan approaching and takes a deep breath. It's going to be hard to say good bye to him. She feels a little like she's leaving him just when he might really need her. He's just become a Dad at the age of eighteen and she knows that he has doubts, she doesn't want for him to ever have to deal with them alone.

She's actually glad therefore when Haley drags Lucas away so that they can have their own little heart-to-heart, leaving her and Nathan to themselves.

They haven't really seen each other since graduation and that ended with Nathan becoming a Dad. Since then he's been a little preoccupied with his son and she's been wrapped up in her future plans and getting ready to leave for L.A. It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks but finally it's just the two of them and they have some catching up to do.

'Right, let me see that baby.'

Nathan grins and reaches for his photograph that will soon be very tatty considering the amount that he thumbs it lovingly and shows it at every opportunity.

'Oh God.' Peyton gasps.

'Not bad, huh?' He's still got that cocky arrogance with her, even after all this time, after everything that's come to pass.

'Good work, Buddy.' Peyton congratulates earnestly, although the words are jokey he knows that she really means them. He can't describe the relationship he has with Peyton, he's not sure that there are actually words to describe it but whatever it is they have, he wouldn't change it.

He points to the picture, 'I made that.'

She cracks up laughing and for a second their eyes meet and they see something that neither has witnessed in two years or so, the glittering spark that always emerged when they were in each other's company.

'Look at you.' Peyton shakes her head, 'All grown up.'

'Who'd have thought it?' He remarks.

'Not me.' She admits, 'In fact I probably made a bet at one point that you'd never get your conceited head out of your own ass long enough to grow up.'

He sighs, 'Can we skip the _Nathan was a jerk _story for tonight please?'

'I wasn't going to tell that story.' She reveals, 'I was going to bring up the baby assignment, remember Lloyd?'

'Still haunts me in my sleep.' He winces and shivers, 'That thing was the damn ugliest doll I've ever seen.'

Peyton laughs in agreement, 'That was a long week.'

'It was a pretty good week.' Nathan says, thinking back.

She swivels round madly, 'Just what was good about it?'

'Well,' He chuckles, 'I got you to play strip poker, we stuck two fingers up at Dan and I think we were the real reason that Miss Lloyd quit.'

Peyton blushes, 'Do you think she ever found out that I wasn't pregnant?'

Nathan shrugs, 'Probably not. I bet she has nightmares about our imaginary kid like I do about Lloyd.'

'The poor woman.' Peyton laughs.

They both sit for a second reflecting on what could have been, once upon a time.

Peyton stares forwards and can almost see a little boy looking back at her in the distance. Nathan's dark hair, maybe her eyes and of course a basketball tucked under his arm. He'd look up to his Daddy but would share her taste in music and refuse to wear anything but converse sneakers.

Nathan, sitting beside her, has a different vision. A little girl that is Peyton from head to toe. She's wearing dungarees and her hair is in two bunches, curling madly. She's giggly and cheeky with a smile that gives Nathan butterflies.

'Us with a kid, that would have been,' Peyton pauses.

'Crazy, right?' Nathan supplies, his voice thick.

'Yeah.' She knows that he's right. Everything about her and Nathan as a couple was crazy and a kid would have been crazier still. But damn their kid would have been the coolest kid on the planet, and possibly the cutest too.

He nudges her with his elbow, 'You okay? You zoned out.'

She nods, shaking her thoughts from her head, 'Sorry, yeah.'

He wonders if her mind temporarily went to same insane place that his did and decides to change the subject. There's something he needs to tell her anyway, 'So you know what Haley's asking Luke right now?'

'If he'll be James' Godfather.' Peyton says through a smile, completely forgetting her odd daydream when he mentions Lucas.

'Yeah,' Nathan scratches his hand over the back of his neck, 'And I don't know if Brooke's mentioned anything, but,'

'She bounced over earlier and told me.' Peyton nods, saving him from any awkwardness. She can tell that for some strange reason Nathan feels embarrassed that he and Haley chose Lucas and Brooke as Godparents and not her. 'Nate, I'm not sure I'm Godmother material.'

He gives her a doubtful look.

'Come on!' She laughs, 'I'd make him listen to loser rock, drive his car real fast and tell him to roll his eyes at everything his Daddy says.'

'I wanted to it to be you.' Nathan reveals to her.

She settles her hands over his, 'Thank you for that, really. It's real sweet and all but I am far too cool for anything that responsible and you know it. I'm the badass unofficial aunt who'll lead him astray later.'

He laughs, glad that she hasn't taken it personally, 'I guess every kid needs an Aunt or Uncle like that. And we both know that Lucas is far too dependable for that.'

'That's what I'm here for.' She assures him. 'Oh and I'm going to tell him every embarrassing story I have about you.'

'I don't doubt it.' He says in a dull tone.

She looks into his deep blue eyes and remembers the hour they spent together in the gym when Nathan spilled his secrets to her concerning his worries about fatherhood. 'Nate, no matter what I tell him, you're still gonna be that kid's hero.'

He looks to her curiously.

'Just trust me on this one, okay?' She tells him eyes twinkling.

'Okay, I trust you, Sawyer.' And he does.

She's the one person whose been there through everything, including the ugly parts, and she's still got his back. He couldn't ask for a better friend than the girl beside him, the girl he's never understood but always loved albeit in more of a brotherly way now.

'I'm gonna miss you.' She says sincerely, pulling him into a hug. There's a part of her that can't wait to go to L.A and start her internship but there's another part that can barely stand to leave all of her friends.

'Back at you.' He whispers into her hair. 'Good luck and don't be a stranger.'

She smiles and pulls away from his hold to take a look at the boy she's known forever, 'Kid got lucky with you and Hales.'

'You think?' It's clear that he still has some doubt in his mind about their situation.

'I know.' She says firmly and he knows better than to argue with her. 'Just as long as you don't pass on your lacking musical taste to James, you're good.'

He winces, 'Too late.'

'What do you mean?' She questions, hands on hips in a threatening style.

Shrugging he backs away, 'He likes Old School Hip-Hop, nothing else gets him to sleep.'

She gasps and punches him, 'You suck!'

He rubs the spot where she hit him, 'Just like old times, huh?'

'Just like _always_.' She corrects, smiling fondly.

He returns a wide smile to his best friend. He's just as sure as she is that they're always going to have each other and they're always going to have this unique relationship.

'Always, Sawyer.'


End file.
